


Weapons to People

by alwayswaitingforsomething



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Bonding, Comfort, Nightmares, Talon!Dick, he used to be at least, no beta we die like jason todd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:53:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28673271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwayswaitingforsomething/pseuds/alwayswaitingforsomething
Summary: Dick has a nightmare, and coincidentally, so does Superboy. Good thing there's hot chocolate to trauma bond over.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Kon-El | Conner Kent, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Kudos: 59





	Weapons to People

**Author's Note:**

> so im not even halfway through episode two but i h a d to write this.

Cadmus...the Court of Owls...talons and clones. That's all Dick can remember from his nightmare. He woke up panting, covered in sweat, panicking. He could have sworn he saw an owl in the darkness, a glint of gold iris', hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike. The worst part is Dick didn't know if it was the new Talon, whoever that poor shmuck is, or himself, he was imagining. Or if he was imagining at all. He wouldn't put it past the Court to know that he was Robin, to know where he was at any given time. But he couldn't know for sure, and that was torture. He'd rather them attack, try to kill him, or worse, take him back, that way he would know they knew. For now the last three years they kept him on his toes and it's driving Dick mad. Logically he thinks that since they haven't made a move then they must not know about his double life. But...it's still the Court, and no matter what Bruce says, _they always know_. 

He shakes himself, but can't quite relax. Dick hates these nights. Having a nightmare, waking up, seeing something that isn't really there, and then staying up all night because _what is it is?_ They really suck. Back at the manor Alfred always made hot cocoa whenever Dick or Bruce had bad nights. Maybe there's some here...

Ten minutes of looking for hot chocolate packs, milk, and a mug later Dick is seated at the bar in the kitchen idly stirring his drink. He's never really liked silence. In the circus everything was loud all the time. With the Court the only time the trainers or handlers would speak was to correct something he did wrong. Now that he's Robin and has a semi-normal civilian life it's not as quite. But the manor echoes with memories long past and that is just as crushing as the silence that lingers too. This is to say that sitting silently alone in the dark is not the best way for Dick to recover from a nightmare. But he doesn't know what else to do. The Court had ingrained in him never to ask for help, because _tools don't need help and if it can't do something right then it should go back in the ice until it can_. 

Dick sits there for a while longer, letting thoughts of his past consume him when he hears a _thud thud thud_ noise. It's bare feet on stone, and not the footfalls of one who's goal is to be stealthy. So not a Talon, then. Dick relaxes marginally. Then the lights come on and Dick winces, reaching to his thigh for a dagger that isn't there, hasn't been for three years. (There's one under his pillow, but Bruce doesn't know that.) Old habits die hard, Dick supposes. But will some ever die at all?

Superboy pads into the kitchen and startles slightly when he sees Dick. "Robin," he breathes. "What are you-" 

"Nightmare. You?" 

"Yeah." Dick hums. He didn't know Superboy could have nightmares, or dreams for that matter. Though he has a human brain, so it shouldn't be that surprising. 

"About Cadmus?" 

"Why are you asking?" Dick tenses, wondering how to defuse the tension. Superboy is angered easily and Dick doesn't want a fight, not tonight. 

"I was kind of dreaming of Cadmus too." He says. "Want to talk about it?" He expects Superboy to say no, grab something from the fridge, and leave Dick to his brooding. But he doesn't, instead sitting down across from him with a protein bar in hand. 

"I-I can't go back into that tube. What if we see them again and they capture me?" That was...even more unexpected. Dick is slightly taken aback by Superboy's willingness to open up, and slightly envious of it. Bruce doesn't want him to share much with the Team for 'the sake of his secret identity.' 

"Then we'll rescue you. Kid Flash will tease you about being a damsel in distress and Kaldur will make sure you're alright and then try to shup KF up. I'll just cackle and track down any other bases Cadmus might have. We're a team, we'll always have each other's backs." Superboy smiles and takes a bite of his protein bar. Dick sips his hot chocolate. 

"What was your nightmare about?" Dick inhales sharply. Should he tell him? No one knows Dick Grayson has any ties to the Court of Owls, and no one here ever knows he's Dick Grayson. So it could hurt, right? 

"Well, uh, you ever heard of the Court of Owls?" Superboy shook his head. _So Cadmus doesn't know about the Court, good to know_. "Well, basically, in Gotham City there's an organization called The Court of Owls. Every so often hey, uh, kidnap little kids and train them to become assassins', called Talons." Was he really going to tell him this? No one but Bruce and Alfred and himself knew. What if he was kicked off the Team? "Okay, first, you have to promise me you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Swear on...Superman." 

"I swear on Superman I won't tell anyone what you're about to tell me." Dick nodded and took a deep breath. 

"So, my parents died when I was eight. The Court arranged their death and then..." _they took me in_ sounds too nice. Kidnapped fits better, but it's not entirely accurate. Dick went willingly with William Cobb since he was his grandfather. "Then they made me into a Talon. I-I keep wondering if there's some connection between them and Cadmus. They both made 'weapons' out of people, and kept them in an unconscious state when they weren't needed. It feels to similar to be a coincidence." 

"You're an assassin?" 

" _Was._ Not anymore." 

"Right." 

"And the telepathy thing! Talon's aren't telepathic, I don't think anyone in the Court is, but they way they controlled our minds..." 

"It-it does seem odd." They sit in companionable silence, Dick already planning an investigation. Should he rope Batman into this? He doesn't want Bruce to be on the wrong side of the Court, but Dick can't do this on his own and no one on the Team has the subtlety or detective skills needed for something like this. "But we can't let the fear of our pasts control us." Dick looks up abruptly, not expecting that kind of wisdom to come from anyone (except Alfred) much less _Superboy_. "We-we were weapons, but we chose the path of good. We remade ourselves into heroes. I think that's something to be proud of." 

"Yeah, yeah you're right. Thanks Superboy. I'm gonna go back to bed." They exchanged good nights and as Dick crawled into bed he thought about what Superboy had said. He was a hero now. Sure, the Court might come for him but this time around he would come out on top. He had a family now, a team. He was going to be alright. 


End file.
